ACTION ALERT DISCLOSE ACT

[carol ann parisi]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Action Alert! HR 5175 / The DISCLOSE Act June 17, 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  PLEASE VOTE NO on 5175 we have more information on the bill and expanded contact information for committee members. The vote on HR 5175 may take place as early as tonight. The DISCLOSE Act limits our freedom of speech and needs to be stopped. Please call, email, and fax representatives and ask them to vote no. We are all in this together

Urgent: Follow-up on H.R. 5175 / The DISCLOSE Act If you can't beat'em, shut'em up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "DISCLOSE Act" Catchy name? Right?  HR 5175 is the: ''Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act'' This bill will limit our freedom of speech. We need to Call Representatives to Defeat the DISCLOSE Act: it will harm the Tea Party and conservative grassroots groups.  Below are details from the Tea Party Patriots and links provided by the Commonwealth Foundation and Freedom Works. Click HERE for the complete bill text. We have received information from Capitol Hill regarding the "Disclose Act" and we must work to defeat this bill.  The vote is expected to take place tonight or tomorrow.   On April 29, 2010, Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced H.R. 5175, the Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act. The bill is a direct response to Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission  (McCain- Feingold) - a First Amendment victory in which the Supreme Court overturned the prohibition on corporations and unions using treasury funds for independent expenditures supporting or opposing political candidates at any time of the year.  Simply put, the DISCLOSE Act will limit the political speech that was protected and encouraged by Citizens United. Speaker Pelosi and the House Majority Leadership are making it a priority to pass this bill.  This bill is designed to take away the influence of Tea Party and other conservative groups in the upcoming November election. We feel like this bill will be successfully challenged in the courts, but the ruling will not come before the November election.   An exemption has been carved out for the Labor Unions and other leftist advocacy groups.  The NRA was also exempted so they would not oppose it.   Roll Call Magazine reports that they have carved out even deeper exemptions in order to assure passage and we believe it clearly shows the intent of the bill is to diminish the effectiveness of  Tea Party groups and other newer conservative advocacy groups.   "Facing wide-ranging blowback from an exemption tailored for the National Rifle Association, House Democratic leaders have decided to expand the carve-out from disclosure requirements in a campaign finance measure they are trying to pass this week. The new standard lowers the membership requirement for outside groups from 1 million members to 500,000. Those groups would still need to have members in 50 states, have existed for 10 years and can accept no more than 15 percent of their funding from corporate or union sources. The broader bill, called the DISCLOSE Act, comes in response to the controversial Supreme Court decision in January that struck down limits on corporate and union spending in elections. The bill would force groups participating in elections to name their top donors, among other changes."   We need you to make phone calls, send emails and faxes and urge the Congressmen listed below to vote no on this bill.  If you are a NRA member, we urge that you email the NRA and ask them to oppose this bill. NRA -   [e-mail]  and [e-mail]   Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD) Blue Dog Co-Chair for Administration 202-225-2801   Fax: [phone] Rep. Jim Matheson (UT-02) Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications 202-225-3011   Fax: [phone] Rep. Baron Hill (IN-09) Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy 202-225-5315   Fax: [phone] Altmire, Jason (PA-04)       202-225-2565     Fax: [phone] Baca, Joe (CA-43)            202-225-6161     Fax: [phone] Barrow, John (GA-12)         202-225-2823     Fax: [phone] Berry, Marion (AR-01)        202-225-4076     Fax: [phone] Bishop, Sanford (GA-02)      202-225-3631     Fax: [phone] Boren, Dan (OK-02)           202-225-2701     Fax: [phone] Boyd, Allen (FL-02)          202-225-5235     Fax: [phone] Bright, Bobby (AL-02)        202-225-2901     Fax: [phone] Cardoza, Dennis (CA-18)      202-225-6131 Carney, Christopher (PA-10)  202-225-3731 Childers, Travis (MS-01)     202-225-4306     Fax: [phone] Cooper, Jim (TN-05)          202-225-4311     Fax: [phone] Costa, Jim (CA-20)           202-225-3341     Fax: [phone] Cuellar, Henry (TX-28)       202-225-1640     Fax: [phone] Dahlkemper, Kathy (PA-03)    202-225-5406     Fax: [phone] Davis, Lincoln (TN-04)       202-225-6831     Fax: [phone] Donnelly, Joe (IN-02)        202-225-3915     Fax: [phone] Gordon, Bart (TN-06)         202-225-4231 Holden, Tim (PA-17)          202-225-5546     Fax: [phone] Kratovil, Jr., Frank (MD-01) 202-225-5311     Fax: [phone] McIntyre, Mike (NC-07)       202-225-2731     Fax: [phone] Markey, Betsy (CO-04)        202-225-4676     Fax: [phone] Marshall, Jim (GA-08)        202-225-6531     Fax: [phone] Matheson, Jim (UT-02)        202-225-3011     Fax: [phone] Melancon, Charlie (LA-03)    202-225-4031     Fax: [phone] Michaud, Mike (ME-02)        202-225-6306     Fax: [phone] Minnick, Walt (ID-01)        202-225-6611     Fax: [phone] Mitchell, Harry (AZ-05)      202-225-2190  Moore, Dennis (KS-03)        202-225-2865     Fax: [phone] Murphy, Scott (NY-20)        202-225-5614     Fax: [phone] Nye, Glenn (VA-02)           202-225-4215     Fax: [phone] Peterson, Collin (MN-07)     202-225-2165     Fax: [phone] Salazar, John (CO-03)        202-225-4761     Fax: [phone] Scott, David (GA-13)         202-225-2939     Fax: [phone] Space, Zack (OH-18)          202-225-6265     Fax: [phone] Tanner, John (TN-08)         202-225-4714     Fax: [phone] Taylor, Gene (MS-04)         202-225-5772     Fax: [phone]   Additional Information: The DISCLOSE Act Silences Speech The Principle Behind Campaign Finance Regulation Free Speech Watch Republican Study Committee Policy Brief NRA exemption shows campaign disclosure bill's cynical, fatal flaws